good morning from boston where we are covering three major stories. the devastating and deadly explosion in texas at a fertilizer plant where there is still an active search for survivors. it is appointment and anger over the defeat of every single gun bill. mark kell and gabby giffords are furious, and they are holding a news conference. if giffords comes to the microphone we'll have that for you, and the president and first lady are coming here to boston where in an hour an interfaith memorial service will be held to honor the victims of the marathon bombing. a major break potentially in this case. investigators want to talk to two people that they have pinpointed on surveillance video from a department store tape. we'll be covering all these stories for you today, but let's begin in texas where we're waiting for a news conference at top of the next hour on that massive deadly explosion at a fertilizer plant. it has leveled several blocks of homes and businesses.

here's what we know. 5 to 15 people have been killed. rescue teams are still going door to door looking for survivors, possibly trapped inside their homes. three to five fire fighters who were among the first to respond are missing. more than 160 people have been taken to local hospitals, and president obama has opinion notified. the administration is monitoring this situation via fema which is in contact with state and local officials in texas. here's waco police sergeant patrick swanson just a short time ago. >> there is a significant area around the fertilizer plant that has been destroyed. homes have been destroyed and there are homes flattened and part of that community is gone. >> nbc's charles hadlock is live in the small town of west, texas. charles, what are people saying

so far? what's the latest? >> reporter: they say it's a very tedious process, but they are still holding out hope that they will find survivors in the rubble that is left in the northern part of west, texas. the plant itself is on the northeast corner of town, and it exploded last night after fire broke out about 7:30. about 7:45 the fire chief realized the fire was getting out of control. he order his men out, and seven minutes later the whole building exploded. jill jenkins was a triage nurse. she was one of the first ones to arrive on the scene. here's what she had to say. >> when i got on the scene it was approximately two minutes after the explosion. it actually looked like 9/11, what you saw on tv with 9/11. there were people laying in their yards that had been blown out of their homes. the nursing home looked like it had just been blown kind of out.

the west apartments, the structure was there but apartments were just blown out. people were coming out bloody and injured. >> officials say dozens of homes have been flattened along with businesses in that part of town. the school caught on fire. a nursing home was damaged, and an apartment complex was flattened. they are still searching door by door and lot by lot trying to find survivors, and we're told that 160 people have been injured. the fatality count is now somewhere between 5 and 15, and among dead are 3 to 4 fire fighters, and a law enforcement officer slashed a fire fighter who was reported missing has been found alive but in serious condition at an area hospital. governor rick per is expecteded to give a news conference at 12:45 eastern time from the texas department of public safety headquarters in austin. chris, back to you. >> is there a sense, and i understand that this is a very

small town in a fairly rural area, but is there a sense that they have the help that they need there, charles? >> well, it is a very small town, and it was a volunteer fire department which was decimated by this. when the first responsibilitiers -- responders arrived they realized what a calamity it was, and help came from as far as dallas-fort worth, waco austin. mutual aid was called in, and communities all around this region poured into this area until about 1:00 in the morning when the dps finally said, objection we have enough people on hand. we think we found all the survivors and treated the injured and gotten them out of town, so we don't need any more help, but it was certainly welcome in the early hours here. chris? >> charles hadlock on the scene there. thanks for the update. the wind could be a factor and carrying ammonia fumes from the explosion scene to residents in

that area. nbc's meteorologist bill karins is live at msnbc headquarters with more on that. good morning to you. >> reporter: the scene hasn't been helped by the weather at all. the gusty winds fanning those flames on the homes after the explosion and then once they settled down and the first responders arrived on the scene. it was pitch black and then it started to rain and pour early this morning. thankfully the rain is starting to let up with one little batch of wet weather left. this is the dallas-fort worth, dallas area, waco here and, of course, west, texas, located on i-95, a little small town. wind blowing out of the northwest at 22. they have said that they are not so concerned with the air quality anymore in the region for the first responders, so that was good. that was a major concern early this morning, and i want to give you a close-up view of the fertilizer plant. this is the plant itself. not a big fertilizer plant. it's got two main buildings, and these buildings here, and then it has like three tanks located to the north. obviously they saw the huge explosion after the first fire.

can you maybe assume the buildings caught fire and then the tanks, but regardless, it was in a massive explosion so just to show you the proximity. why do you have something that will below up like this that close to a nursing home and that close to a middle school. the town itself only goes about five blocks from east to west. you can see where the fertilizer plant is located and they are saying the blast radius itself knocked out 50 to 60 homes on its way to the west and northwest of the plant itself so all of those homes on the map that you're looking at on the top of the screen, literally these in this area, are the ones that they are saying have been flattened. you heard about the nursing home with the extreme damage. that's located right in here and then the school that caught on fire which thankfully was empty at the time was the middle school down there. chris, obviously they are still finding people there. the weather is going to cooperate a little more with here on out. the weather won't be causing any more issues there. the worst is already done. back to you. >> one small bit of news there from mother nature. bill karins. thank you.

joining me now from capitol hill, congressman bill flores. the explosion happened in his district. congressman, first let me say, our thoughts and prayers are with everyone in west right now, and i know you've been in touch with local authorities. what can you tell us. >> well, chris, i want to start by saying that the terrorist attack in boston and the tragedy in west remind us of the risk that modern life presents, and i'd ask all americans to pray for these two communities and to hug your families a little tighter tonight before you put them to bed. i can tell you this. when we got the first news of the incident we reached out to the county judge scott felton and also to the county sheriff in mckellenan county, pernell mcnamara and asked them for help. let them know if they needed help in federal assistance and we followed up by senator cornyn's office and senator cruz's office, and i got off the phone a few minutes ago with governor perry. he says he's ready to respond whenever the local community tells us that they need that help, so he will call theme a.

we've alerted fema so we're ready to go to provide federal assistance to the extent we need to. we've also used our social media as a clearing house, if you will, for requests for help and then offers for assistance and donations. >> anyone who has seen the pictures of this explosion or are seeing this morning the aftermath can't help but be shocked. it's such a devastating situation. what are you hearing about how many people may have been killed, how many injured? what's the situation on the ground right now as best you know it. >> well, your reporting thus far has been fairly lly except wit respect to the number of casualties so the local officials are asking us to hold that information closely until they have a more accurate handle on it, but in the numbers injured, 160 to 170 ballpark, and i have to say the local health care facilities have done a great job of absorbing the

rush of people that needed to be treated, and as soon as we have a better head count on the casualties, our local officials are going to be the best source to release that, and they have asked me not to say anything in advance of that. >> but are you suggesting that it's more than the 5 to 15 that's been reported, congressman? >> no, ma'am, i'm not, chris. i think it's too early to tell, and the last thing we need is speculation at this point. last night there was a lot of chatter on social media that was talking about a range of casualties in the 60 to 70 range, and we were careful not to report that because it's just not helpful at this point, so, you know, the numbers will come out as soon as we can get them out, but it is a tragedy, let's put it that way. there are casualties, and -- and our local officials will let us know when they feel like it's appropriate to do so. >> and obviously the immediate concern is about those who may still be trapped, taking care of the wounded. >> yes, ma'am. >> tending to the families who have been devastated by this, but i do need to ask you,

congressman, about a report in "the dallas morning news." this plant apparently had 50,000 pounds of anhydrous ammonia but reported to the epa that it presented no risk of fire or explosion and in a worst case explosion they said there would be a ten-minute release of ammonia gas that would kill or injure anyone. i do want to caution we don't know what caused this. as bill karins was pointing out, the close proximity of a plant like this to a nursing home, to a school, do you think officials may have misrepresented the danger there in. >> it's hard to know at this point in time. my assumption at this point is that the -- the statistics that the plant owners reported was based on normal operations of the plant, and obviously something we had either a huge equipment malfunction or some sort of a terrible human error, and it may have created a chain reaction that could never have been envisioned when they were reporting those statistics.

now that said, you do raise a valid point about why was this plant so close to the community, and that's a question we're going to have to try to address in the next several days. >> well, congressman bill flores, i know that you are looking to get back to texas and to -- to work as much as you can to help this community so i thank you for taking some time out of your day to update us, congressman. thank you, chris. >> ask our viewers to follow our social media for offers to help. >> will do. thank you. and we're going to turn back to the ongoing investigation here in boston after the break. how investigators go about tracking down the possible suspects now that they have images? and why they haven't released the photo to the public yet. zap technologyalso offr departure. hertz gold plus retechnolo- our fastest way to return your car. just note your mileage and zap ! you're outta there ! we'll e-mail your receipt in a flash, too. it's just another way you'll be traveling at the speed of hertz.

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the white house has just released a statement from president obama on the devastating and deadly explosion of the fertilizer plant in west, texas, and he basically pledges the support of the federal government, thanks first responders and promises the people of that small tightly knit community the prayers and the support of the american people. of course, the president now on his way here to boston for an interfaith service that's going to happen at the top of the hour in holy cross cathedral across from where i'm sitting. in the meantime, there is potentially a turning point in this boston marathon case thanks to security video. the fbi wants to talk to two people seen on tape. specifically a man in a baseball cap who was talking on his cell phone. the man was seen dropping a black bag near the finish line of the race and walking away. it was caught on camera by department store lord & taylor's surveillance camera perched outside the store facing the

race. nbc's michael isikoff is covering the investigation live in boston for us, and michael, now that they have this video, perhaps a faith, what's next? >> reporter: well, what we're -- what's next is we're likely, we're told we're going to have an fbi briefing this afternoon, most likely shortly after the president's speech, and we are expecting, we'll see these photos. it's not for sure yet. there's been a lot of discussion about whether to release them, but these are the two persons of interest as it were that the fbi wants to talk to. now, again, they do not -- we are told, do not have the names of these individuals. they don't know who they are. they are going to once again seek the public's help just like they were seeking the public's help a couple of days ago in asking for video. how crucial this is in the case, we don't know yet. it does seem to be a sign of at

least some progress. >> does there seem to be some inclination for them to -- to release a photo, or are investigators holding that decision close to the vest? >> reporter: holding it close to the vest. some of this video and photos were shared with other law enforcement agencies last night. we reported last night about federal law enforcement agencies receiving the photos showing the -- the man with the white baseball cap or off-white baseball cap, but that only goes so far. they were asking have you seen anybody? do you know anybody like this? this f they don't get any instant hits, then they go to the public and that's what we may be seeing this afternoon. >> thank you, michael isikoff, and now i want to bring in james cavanagh, retired agentiev special agent in charge and an msnbc analyst, and i guess the question a lot of people are asking is twofold. at what point could they decide

to release this image to the public, and what are they, i guess, points that go into making a decision like this? >> reporter: right, chris. well, that's a great question, and i think the commanders there are doing the exact right thing. they have distributed to their key investigators like mike said, but they really are at the point of decision, and here's what matters. there's always what we know. there's what the investigators can see in the picture, and there's what the bomber believes, and these are very different things, because as of yesterday, as of yesterday, when it broke all over the national media that the investigators had pictures of the bomber, the bomber believes, as of yesterday, that you have his picture. so he has already or they have already been reacting to the information that was on the media yesterday, so this closes the window for investigators because the bomber already believes you have it, so they have got to decide. if we can't quickly identify

them from our own resources, we need to release it to the public. memories fade. you're in the first week. people may remember seeing them. they may remember seeing the clothing. the clothing could be familiar, so we also have sort of a post-offense behavior and a reaction behavior where the bombers might flee as of yesterday because they think they have been photographed. they may destroy clothing or articles so there's a lot of behavior that can go on as well with the way that this is developing. >> what kind of technology do they have that -- that could help them with this? i mean, when you talk to any investigator, any district attorney, they talk about the effect of television programs where the technology is so much more sophisticated than in real life but what about things like facial recognition? >> well, i think that's key. agencies like immigration and customs enforcement and customs and border protection are huge in a case like this because they might be able to tell you about something, if there was reason for some person to be a foreign visitor or foreign traveler, but

facial recognition software, you know, when it's in certain places, airports or some place, can be upheld, but you don't know how somebody might have come or could be a local person so it's only limited. the more value is the digital age. if that praf is photograph is pn everybody's iphone, on the national media and everybody starts calling in. everybody starts calling in. i think it's my uncle freddy. i think it's joe down the street, and you'll get a lot of false positives. that's my old boyfriend, he's no good, and you've got to sort through those, but there could be a diamond in that chunk of call, and that diamond is the bomber. >> jim cavanagh, thank you so much for that. well, we could find out definitively today if letters sent to president obama and senator roger wicker contain the poison ricin. mississippi police have arrested 45-year-old paul kevin curtis at his home. the fbi says curtis sent three letters, all of which

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smarter, and sharper. we are tyco integrated security. and we are sharper. . proponents of new background checks on gun buyers are vowing to fight on this morning after the expected and nonetheless stinging defeat in the senate yesterday. that bipartisan compromise to expand background checks failed to get the 60 votes needed to move the legislation forward. only four republicans broke ranks with their party and voted for the measure. four democrats from pro-gun states voted against. the defeat sparked an angry outburst from the survivor of the tucson massacre. >> shamin you! >> there will be order in the senate. >> at the white house a fuming president obama surrounded by newtown families and former congresswoman gabby gifford lashed out at lawmakers and

vowed to fight on. >> this was a pretty shameful day for washington. this effort is not over. i want to make it clear to the american people we can still bring about meaningful changes that reduce gun violence so long as the american people don't give up on it. >> i want to bring in dan gross, president of the brady campaign. it's good of you to be with us today, and i just want to get your reaction to what happened. >> i think the president had it right. i think the survivor who spoke in the chambers had it right. shame on congress. it's a shameful day in washington, d.c. the will of 90% of the american public, the safety of the american public was undermined by the votes of a few senators who were doing the bidding of the gun lobby. i think it's very important that we take great solace and heart and inspiration from how far we've come. i mean, the fact that there was a vote at all, the fact that it was even close, the fact that

the filibuster didn't happen, the fact that there was a bipartisan agreement, these all happened because the voice of the american public is starting to be heard by congress. we haven't come far enough yet, and the american people should take inspiration from where we are, how far we've come, and like the president said, we can't -- we can't give up. this is too important. 30,000 people are killed by guns every year and there are real things to do to prevent it. >> west virginia senator joe manchin who worked on the gun compromise was on "morning joe" this morning, and he vowed to keep up the fight. let me play that. >> we are going to win this. this is good. this piece of legislation is a balanced piece of legislation that basically protects and keeps people safe. >> how do you do that? how do you make that next step? so many people thought newtown would be the catalyst. where do you go from here, dan? >> there will be catalysts, and i think newtown was a catalyst, but it's not answer on its own. you know, no amount of sympathy

around any one tragedy is going to change this issue. what's going to change the issue is when the voice of the overwhelming majority of americans whose safety hangs in the balance, who support these measures makes its voice heard. senator manchin, gosh, he deserves a ton of credit. you know, let's remember, i mean, he was an a-rated nra senator, so was senator toomey and senator landrieu, six a-rated senators came forward to support this legislation. you know, we need to demonstrate to them that it was not a courageous thing to do, that it was the right thing to do and that the american public will have their back. actually demonstrate that it's an overly courageous thing for senators who don't support these measures to work against the interest of the american peep. we need to start holding these folks accountable, make them, you know -- i'm a victim of gun violence. my brother was shot. the newtown family, the aurora family, the people who suffer from gun violence every day, we

know what pain is. we know what real pain is. we immediate to make these people feel the pain of losing their jobs, and until they know that that hangs in the balance, we're not going to be able to create change, but when they do know that that hangs in the balance, change will happen. >> dan, i don't need to give you the statistic as you know, it but 90% of senate republicans voted against this gun bill, and i just want to play what some of them had to say. >> criminals do not submit to background checks now. they will not submit to expanded background checks. >> the way to stop violent crime is to stop violent criminals. >> we're trying to take it to the violent criminal rather than taking it to the innocent second amendment law-abiding citizen. >> gabby giffords said one place to start is for mothers to call their senators and let them know that they vote. what else do you think people should know about what they could do. >> everybody needs to call their senators and we've actually made it easy. text my voice to 877877, and we

will connect you to one of the senators that voted no on this. one of the senators that undermine the will and well-being of the american public. my voice to 877877 because that's the difference. it's the voice. it's the voice of mothers. it's the voice of fathers. it's the voice of regular law-abiding american citizens, and it's not voices of those senators in there that were just spitting out rhetoric to undermine legislation that the overwhelming majority of their constituents support, that the overwhelming majority of the american public supports. it's sickening. it's sickening to sit here and listen to it. >> dan gross, thank you so much, and i'm sure we will talk about. dan gross from the brady campaign, and coming up, an update on the breaking news that we've been following out of texas. we will get a live update from the scene of that massive explosion at a fertilizer plant coming up next.

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news we are following in the town of west, texas, and these are live pictures coming from a helicopter over the scene of devastation. there is an ongoing search and rescue mission right now after that fierce and deadly explosion at a fertilizer plant, and can you still see the fire smouldering there. down below rescue teams have been going door to door after that blast leveled several blocks of homes and businesses. police are telling us at this point that 5 to 15 people were killed and more than 160 people taken to local hospitals with their injuries. it was a massive explosion. happened last night. it could be felt as far as 60 miles away. residents describe a scene of fear and confusion. >> i'm sitting in my truck, you know, and then, boom, the big explosion and just glass went everywhere, and as soon as that, i just ran. i just ran after that. >> this right here will bring us closer together, and you just

see the love and you hurt for everybody that's lost a loved one. >> joining me now on the phone from west, texas is dan halliburton, a member of the american red cross. thanks for taking the time to join us. you were on scene. tell us what you've seen. >> it's been a challenging day for the first responders. the search really didn't get under way. it started at 1:00 in the morning and that went well through the night and severe weather came through the area. still rain in the area, and still have the first responders out there, and it will definitely slow things down. the red cross is on the scene. our team is in loft night and more coming in today. we've got a great number of supplies that are already on the ground. more that are going to be here, and we had a shelter last night, but frankly the citizens in this area are so close-knit and tight that they took care of one

another, they stayed in homes and churches. we're prepared to have that shelter up and operating for as long as it may be needed in that area, and, of course, we'll have our food service beginning to start later today. >> yeah, i know it is early on, but you folks are so experienced at assessing a situation. what are the other immediate needs, dan, that you're trying to take care of there? >> well, it's amazing to see the outpouring of support and researchers here? really as you look around at this point in time i think everybody is needed on the ground, it's either here or on the way. what we need people to do is keep this community in their hearts because they have gone through something really tough with this weather clearing, and when we start to get a look at the devastation there. that's when the real psychological impact will really hit this community and that's where the red cross will be on the ground with our mental health care workers helping the citizens of west deal with this

tragedy, and it's going to be a tough one. >> thank you so much, dan halyburton, and thanks so much to all the folks at the red cross who respond to these emergencies, and we want to let you know that the president on his way to boston called governor perry to tell him his prayers are with the people of west as they respond to this explosion, and also offered any federal resource that may be needed to assist in the ongoing response and recovery effort. let me bring in dr. irwin redletter, the director of the national center for disaster prepared ney. always good to see you. good morning. >> hi, chris. another grim morning here, yeah. >> i'm sure you've seen -- unbelievable these pictures. just blocks of homes and businesses that have been decimated, and we saw the danger for the rescue teams. now they are going door to door to see if there are survivals who might be trapped. talk to me about the challenges of an operation like this. >> this is obviously an extraordinarily complex, sudden,

unexpected disaster that will involve. actually what we're trying to do now is to optimize the number of survivors that are found and can be treated, and all of that is complicated because it's still a dangerous area. there are still remnants of the ammonia everywhere and a lot of people are going to be found i'm sure with injuries and maybe worse than that. coordinating all of the resources that are now flooding into the areas are always a challenge in a disaster like this. we can see the local volunteers and a lot of heroism here again just like we saw in boston and other disasters, a lot of people stepping up to the plate here in ways that really defy the limitations of the expectations of what people can actually do, but it's really quite amazing, but the complex part also will be to coordinate the resources that will be sent in by the official responder agencies, locally, state and then if necessary federal assets. i know the federal government is keeping very close tabs on this as well, and if they get a call

from governor perry, there will be significant federal resources available as well. but right now coordinating where those assets need to go, how they should be organized and all that will be the principal challenge right now, and then the other thing is unlike boston, this particular town of west, texas is a pretty isolated, small town. 50, 75 miles from dallas. it's 150 miles or so from austin. it's still even far from waco, so they are not a lot of top-notch and large health facilities right in the immediate vicinity, so there's also going to be challenges related to the safe transportation and rapid transportation of severely individual individuals, so there's a whole other area of coordination, and with your weather bad, just to find another challenge of this, already complex mix, is that the air transport issue, which is usually the first thing we go to here, may be compromised. >> dr. irwin redlener, thank

you, always good to get your expertise. appreciate your time this morning. >> sure, chris. and here in boston the service is expected to get under way in about 20 minutes. perhaps the first major step for this community as it tries to heal from those twin bombings. boston radio host jeff santos and the "boston herald's" shelly cohen will join me next. >> jeanette herrera knows a lot about her building maintenance company because she tracks everything through her customer relationship management program. she knows what her clients want done, how they would like the job completed and what they thought of the work. for more, watch "your business" sunday mornings at 7:30 on msnbc. we've all had those moments.

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♪ to more efficient pick-ups. ♪ wireless is limitless. ♪ from tracking the bus. ♪ to tracking field conditions. ♪ wireless is limitless. just a short time ago, president barack obama arrived here in boston, and in about 15 minutes he will be inside the cathedral of the holy cross here in boston's south end across the street from where i am.

he will offer words of comfort to a city still reeling from monday's terror attack. unfortunately, it's a role that the president has become all too familiar with in the past four years. he's responded to tragedies in ft. hood, texas, tucson, arizona, aurora, colorado, and, of course, most recently the deadly school shootings in newtown, connecticut. i'm joined now by boston radio talk show host jeff santos and "boston herald" editorial page editor shelly cohen. i want to thank both of you for being here. this is your community, too, so i know it's difficult. jeff, how important is it that the president is here? >> i think it's huge. it's so important. we've seen so much violence over the last 72 hours, and to have the president come with a group of people all over, you know, trying to find peace. young martin richard tragically killed here on monday talked about stopping the hurt and the president and others coming together it's important to do just, that stop the hurt.

>> i was in dorchester where martin lived and i talked to a lot of mothers there, and it's heartbreaking. you want to find the right words. what do you think that the city of boston and the entire country need to hear from the president today? >> well, i think he needs to address the sense of community, and both the sense of community and the toughness that is boston. this is a very resilient city, and we're all kind of getting prepared to move on with our lives. yes, we want those responsible for this caught, that sort of priority number one, but we also want to -- just to have restored a sense of normalcy in our lives, and that, too, is important, and i'm sure he'll be talking a little bit about both of those this morning. >> and jeff, obviously you hear from a lot of your listeners, and what are they telling you

about? it's easy toe say let's get back to norm a. doing it is another thick all together. >> they want to get back to norm a. they want to not worry about who did it and what was the reason but just to sort of help those who have gone through this horror over the last couple of days. they want to see the city be strong again and be a city that loves sports, that does the things that it does. it's a great political city. you get a lot of elections going on this year, so many things going on. want to get back to normal. >> in fact, the "boston herald" editorial today, shelly, raises the question will we ever feel safe again? and i wonder if you've come to any conclusions about that. >> we will -- boston will regroup. what i love are some of the letters that are pouring in. my office is also a repository for letters to the editor. i love the ones from people who said, you know, we've never run a marathon in our lives, but, damn it, we're going to start training and we're going to be

back and be here next year. i love that kind of spirit. it's a sort of thing that will make us heal, and it real make us feel, safe. yes, we will be very cautionary. we'll be okay with having our bags searched when we go into the mbta, but not forever, and we hope not for very long. >> you know, i personally was moved yesterday, jeff, when i was with one of the groups of moms that i talked to on a local playground, and there had been some word about movement in the investigation, and first they were saying, you know, we've got to get this guy. it took about i'd say less than a minute for it to turn to how do we help each other in this neighborhood >> exactly. >> stop the hurt. it's the most important thing, and it's to me it's great we're doing this all together, all religious, all people believing in a united strong boston. >> jeff santos, it is good to have you here. shelly cohen, we certainly

appreciate it. we're waiting for the memorial service to begin. the president is on his way to holy cross cathedral. that will do it for me. i'm chris jansing. chris matthews will be picking up our coverage. everybody has different investment objectives, ideas, goals, appetite for risk. you can't say 'one size fits all'. it doesn't. that's crazy. we're all totally different. ishares core. etf building blocks for your personalized portfolio. find out why 9 out of 10 large professional investors choose ishares for their etfs. ishares by blackrock. call 1-800-ishares for a prospectus, which includes investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. read and consider it carefully before investing. risk includes possible loss of principal.

i'm chris matthews in washington. it's a day of remembrance and reflection up in boston nearly three days after the bombing at the boston marathon. the city this hour will turn to faith to begin healing. these are live pictures right now from inside the cathedral of the holy cross up in boston's south end where an interfaith service, and inter is the key here, will begin in a you foo minute. we'll hear from president obama, massachusetts governor deval

patrick, boston's longtime mayor thomas menino and mitt romney. before dawn broke over boston there was a loin outside the cathedral this. will be the fifth time in his presidency that barack obama has been in the role of comforter in chief. in addition to the service today he'll meet with families and first responders. both the president and first lady offered words of consolation over the last 24 hours. >> we obviously meet at a time when our thoughts and prayers are with the people of boston. our hearts are with the families of the victims and now we send our support and encouragement to people who never expected that they would need it. >> and on monday was a reminder that in times of crisis here in america we respond with courage and grit and selflessness. >> well, this service is

happening. what a beautiful church. it's happening just a mile away from the active crime scene that remains at the bombing site. in the last 24 hours there's been significant developments in the investigation. the fbi is now seeking to identify, find and talk to two men, young men captured on video taken by a camera outside the lord & taylor department store. joining me now for our special coverage is ray flynn, of course the former may of boston and also former united states ambassador to the vatican. connecticut governor dan malloy. the president, by the way, visited his state in the wake of the newtown tragedy. msnbc commentator and former press secretary robert gibbs and father james martin is editor at large of a jesuit magazine. let me go to former mayor flynn. mr. flynn, your honor, thank you for joining us. i just wondered. you're such a great classic bostonian. you know the city's heart and soul. what do they want to hear from the president and the other visitors today? what would connect? >> well, the fact that the

president is here and the first lady is really a very important symbol for our city in terms of uniting the city and bringing people together. the boston marathon, us a know, chris, is a cherished event, and we never expected anything like this to ever happen. i've run in it many times. it's really the greatest event in boston, and to see something like this happen that happened on monday really crushes the soul of the city, and there's a lot of healing that has to go on following today, and we appreciate the president being here. >> we're watching michelle obama, your honor, going in to the cathedral of the holy cross right now and the president, there he is, giving a little bit of a hug to the rector there. you know, let she go right now to robert gibbs. robert, you know the president as well as anybody in this group today. fell me about him today. i haven't seen him as passionate as i saw him last night in the rose garden. >> right. i think the culmination of a lot of emotional events, newtown, the votes around newtown and

particularly what we're seeing here today, i think the message you'll hear from the president is one of resilience and strength for the people of boston, resilience and strength in the face of cowardice, and, you know, boston is a -- >> that's a pretty good word for that kind of thing is because what we know is whoever did this did it in a crowd of people, unarmed, regular people, having a good time. by the way, a pretty diverse dproud cro crowd from what i could tell, it was a group of people. >> what we've seen with the bomb scene and the crowds, probably intended to harm and maime people. >> probably more people that be they did. >> and the stories are tragic. the 8-year-old there to give his father a hug at the end of the marathon, who is killed and his mother and sister are -- are seriously wounded. there's so much i think that the president will try to draw

together and demonstration strength and resilience for the people of boston. >> there's the president and the first lady coming into the cathedral. boy, has she become a first great first lady, what a wonderful role she's played. let me go to governor malloy, up in connecticut in newtown, i've never been as impressed with the role of governor, personification of the state and the leader of its secular spirituality, if you will. >> well, you know, it was a tough day, series of days. the president came a few days after the 14th, and it was a remarkable experience. particularly for the families. they gathered. he spent time with each of them. he asked me to go in the rooms ahead of them, and then he would come behind us and meet with the families. it was a -- he just brought people together. he did so much for the families that had lost their child, and then if you remember the speech,

it was a moving speech. i think off the script that we might have otherwise imagined where he -- he got to the heart of the matter, and that is that we are a violent society and we have to do something to tame that violence and to make sure that these kinds of shootings don't -- don't take place. he had the ability to mix the compassion for the families in the community with what we really need to do as a nation, and i suspect we'll hear more of that. >> father martin, thank you for joining us. you're a jesuit, and i have great respect for all jesuits having gone to holy cross myself, and i wonder about the -- i'm really impressed by the inter aspect of this faith service. it's not going to be a roman catholic mass, is it? >> no, it's not, not as far as i know. it's going to be at the cathedral of the holy cross in the south end of boston. cardinal o'malley, the archbishop will be there, but, no, this is an interfaither is vicious and i think that's very appropriate, to minister to all the people of boston, not just simply the catholics. >> well, what do you make of interfaith services as such? how do they -- how do they work?

mean, different beliefs, different confessional groups, different denominations? today we're going to have roman catholic, protestant, jewish and also islamic all together is this under the abrahamic god, the god of abraham that unites us all in this case? >> i think that's right. i think, you know, in these kinds of services, you know, rather than looking at what divides us, we look at what unites us. we are all faithful to god. we all believe in god in these services, and i think it's particularly important at this time when the people in boston and people in the united states need to pull together so i think the service itself can be a symbol of unity in a very difficult time. >> it's great to have a jesuit poerngs isn pope, isn't it, father? >> it's fantastic. we're not supposed to be proud but we're pretty proud in the jesuits. >> not so incidental in the world you live in, not only because of your spirituality and

intellectualism. how many years, over 100 years old is the marathon, and the marathon is a great thing and you've got a great baseball team some of the time and all the other sports teams, but you're the only one that has this tremendous ritual going back even to the 19th century. >> it really represents not only runners and a great sporting event. it represents the resiliency, the sacrifice, the pride in boston. it's an event that brings out everybody from all different stripes and backgrounds, and you know it also falls on patriots day, a significant meaningful day in the history of our country, where it all gan, so that combination, chris, is rather unique, and is a special source of pride for us, and as we say and as i said here this mornings you know, tyrants didn't defeat us, and that's what patriots day is about, and

neither will terrorists, so we're bringing it all together once again in boston, the year 2013, and we're collectively saying that we're here. we're united and we're going to move forward and we're showing respect for the victims and for their families, and we're all one bostonian here today. we're all one america. >> we just saw the metropolitan from boston, the greet orthodox metropolis of boston methodeus, and cardinal o'malley is watching him in the franciscan habit and also with hem is liz walker of the presbyterian roxbury church and nancy taylor, ceo and minister of the old south church, rabbi ron freedman, of temple israel up in boston, the chair of the new england interfaith council, a civil rights outreach director, also head of the american